by K.L. Bauman
Chapter 33
The Battle Begins
The elves stopped and sang as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, leaving streaks of orange and pink across the sky. Their voices were haunting tonight and Echo had to stifle a shiver. Still, the sunset was so beautiful. If only she could just fly away, disappear into that great expanse of colorful sky…
After the elf song ended, Echo and Shimmer made their way into the village. Dorian and Echo’s dad, with Finear, waited for them near one of the stone fountains. Echo and Shimmer approached, each attempting to give the other the courage to face the night. As usual, Dorian carried a bright smile, casting away some of the gloom. How can he be so happy? Echo wondered, nearly becoming annoyed with her elf instructor.
“Echo, Shimmer, you have arrived at just the right moment. The torches are being lit as we speak. The children from the villages are nearly all here,” Dorian gestured with his hands toward a long line of children walking through the city. How could she have not notice them before? Their little faces gaped in awe at the elf city, the elves, the fae, and finally, at her, Oran, and the two winged horses. A young girl, maybe seven or eight, smiled admiringly at Echo. Her brown eyes shined with hope and wonder. She reminded Echo of herself the day she’d seen Ayden Green capture the dead sorcerer in Ulway. She returned the girl’s smile, hoping she had given even a small dose of the encouragement Ayden had once given her. She wished he was there to help her fight tonight. If he’d defeated the greatest sorceress of their time, certainly he could defeat a doon. But that wasn’t going to happen.
Dorian’s voice commanded her attention again, “Although the shield is still intact, all the children will take the herbs to fend off bad dreams. The hags shouldn’t be able to penetrate the shield, but it is always wise to take precautions.” He turned and looked at Echo a little more seriously. Placing a strong hand on her shoulder he said in a gentle but firm voice, “Remember, Echo, the weapons you carry will not determine the outcome of this battle. What lies within your heart will be the deciding factor. Let go of all darkness and you will be victorious.”
Echo slid her hand into her pocket and clenched the crystal in her fist. How could she tell Dorian a dark spot still remained in her heart? And yet, she had a feeling he somehow knew. She just nodded, unable to speak. Dorian gave her one last squeeze on the shoulder before he gave them all his attention. “Start out together. You will have a better chance with Brecker if there are two of you and only one of him. However, there will come a time when you will have to separate. The villagers will need eyes and ears in the sky. We have placed a wolfix on the outskirts of each village, and one patrolling the valley. They will give us warning when the shadow dwellers arrive. Now, as far as we know only doons, hags, and water wraiths will be fighting with the opposition.”
Echo could barely breath as she asked, “What happens if Cage shows up? How will the villagers know not to attack him?”
Dorian raised a hand to quiet her. “We foresaw this dilemma as well. Jiggers gave Cage a hundred or more of his necklaces last time Cage was nearby. I believe it was when you were trekking up the Dragon’s Tooth. We placed a spell on them so that they would glow with a cool light. The villagers have all been told not to attack the wraiths bearing the glowing necklaces.”
Echo bit her lip, still uneasy. No one had heard from Cage. Dorian spoke again, “Do not fret over Cage, Echo. He will assist us, I have no doubt. Keep your mind focused on the task ahead.”
The sky was black now. Torches blazed throughout the city, their light dancing across everyone’s faces. “When do you expect the shadow dwellers to arrive?” Oran asked.
Dorian answered, “We have no way of knowing for certain. I don’t expect them to wait.”
As if to confirm Dorian’s words, a haunting howl pierced through the air--one of the wolfix. Song zipped toward them, her wings buzzing furiously. “It is time! The doons have arrived. Ready yourselves for battle!” The fairy’s powerful voice sent chills through Echo. She and her dad mounted as Thildin erupted in a flurry of activity. As horses and riders rose to the black veil of sky, shouts of battle from below trailed away. The cold air helped clear Echo’s mind. She and Shimmer made the deepest connection, their senses at full alert. The power of Shimmer’s wings and the energy of her flight gave Echo strength. She breathed a little more easily with every thump of her horse’s mighty wings.
Oran and Finear were close, but Echo had to mostly rely on the sound of Finear’s wings as she could barely make out their forms in the dark sky. As they flew over Thildin Valley, Echo looked below. She drew in her breath at the beauty of what she saw. Thousands of torches had been lit in and between each of the villages. A double curved line of fire connected them all--a line to guard the front of the villages and one to guard the back. Thildin glowed brightly behind them, shaped like a lopsided star. The entire picture looked like a giant, flaming hoof-print. Echo wondered how many doons crept in the darkness outside--and inside--that print. Then, a thought passed over her mind, something from Azura’s story scroll. They fought over the land of the star and crescent moon. Maybe it wasn’t a hoof print, but a star and crescent moon.
“Echo! Behind us!” Oran’s booming voice caused Echo’s stomach to lurch. Shimmer tensed as Finear sent out a challenging whistle. The thumping sound of a third set if wings approached from behind them as a chill ran up Echo’s spine. Her heart threatened to leap through her ribs. Brecker had found them already!
Midnight Sun returned his sire’s challenge as he and his master bore down on Echo and Shimmer. With a whisper of thought, Echo and Shimmer changed their course. Veering sharply away from her dad and Finear, they dove toward the flaming hoof print. The glow from the flames illuminated horses and riders. The tingling in Echo’s spine told her that Brecker was still in pursuit. Shimmer rose, tilted, and spun in attempt to shake their brothers. Brecker and Midnight Sun clung to their every move.
Suddenly, Oran and Finear attacked Brecker from the side. Oran swung his sword toward Midnight’s left wing. Brecker’s lighting fast reflexes allowed him to catch his father’s blade with his own--the elvish sword given to him at his Becoming. The silver blade reflected the fiery light from below, giving it a blood-red look. Sparks flew from between the blades as they struck. Brecker’s strength was greater, and Oran was pushed back against Finear’s back from the force of the impact.
The opponents pulled away as their steeds circled around for another jousting match in the sky. Echo urged Shimmer toward them; she feared that Brecker’s strength would be too much for their dad. She had to stop this!
Fathers and sons raced toward one another in the eerie light. Echo drew her daggers and then laid herself against Shimmer, giving her horse less wind resistance. Shimmer’s speed increased, nearly taking Echo’s breath away. Even so, they were a little too late. Brecker and their dad swung their blades again and, this time, they both made contact. Oran’s blade sliced across Brecker’s arm and Brecker’s blade struck his father’s thigh. Both men growled in pain. Echo screamed and urged Shimmer to pursue Brecker as her brother pulled away from their dad.
She didn’t know how, but she had to get Brecker to the ground. Her reflexes were a lot faster since they’d last dueled. If she could disarm him…
Brecker and his steed swooped toward Thildin Valley with Echo and Shimmer following closely. Echo briefly hoped that Brecker would land on his own accord. But as they approached the ground, a chill swept over her like none she’d ever experienced. In the flickering light of the torches, hundreds of moving shadows slithered toward the villagers of Ulway like black worms over a corpse. Screams from the people rang in Echo’s ears, followed by the fearless shouts of the elves as they spurred the villagers to stand their ground. An overwhelming sense of fear and dread took over Echo’s emotions and she lost track of Brecker.
Ulway’s fires burned bright. It was safe, for now.
Shim
mer rose sharply away from the horrific scene. The horse penetrated Echo’s mind with a stern reminder that they had their own battle to worry about at the moment. Brecker had lured them to that spot on purpose--a distracting move that had served its purpose.
Oran found them several minutes later circling higher over the village. He shouted above the wind in Echo’s ears, “I think we’ve lost him for now. Or he’s lost us. Either way, now would be a good time for us to patrol the area.” Shimmer and Finear strained to keep in a hovering position. Echo’s dad continued quickly, “I’ll head north, you go south. If any torches have gone out or if you see any areas overrun by shadows, call for help or use the orbs.”
Echo nodded, choking back a lump of fear. She and her dad parted, each flying a different direction. Her dad’s cut had been bleeding--his pant leg was soaked. But she could do little to help. She was glad the elves had insisted they each carry a few drops of curatree sap. Perhaps her dad would use his to heal his leg.
Shimmer rested on a current as they circled toward the south. The blazing torches of Silmah came closer, the light dancing eerily on the Wyrna river behind the village. Echo thought briefly of Cage, but he vanished from her mind as several torches on the northern end of the village suddenly went dark. A series of screams and battle cries rose through the air toward her.
With her heart pounding in her throat, Echo directed Shimmer to arrow toward the spot. The horse tucked her wings and dove, bringing them to the spot in a matter of seconds. Several doons were overpowering the dark area as the villagers attempted to fend them off with hand-held torches. The shadows flinched at the flames, but seemed determined to come forward. One reached out so quickly, its victim had no chance of escape--the woman’s hand was clasped in that horrific hand shake with the doon!
The overpowering memory of Brecker shaking hands with Belzac momentarily blurred Echo’s vision. Her horror turned to rage and she replaced her daggers and grabbed an orb from her pocket. She was about to throw it when Shimmer released a sharp image of the blast taking not only the doon, but the woman as well.
Echo gasped and quickly threw the orb toward the doused torches instead, re-igniting them in a blast of fire. The shadows screamed and fell back, but several of them remained trapped inside the wall of fire, including the one still holding that poor woman in a deadly hand shake.
As Shimmer circled back around, Echo took the Sun’s heart from her other pocket and stretched her hand forward. She focused on the woman and thought of the last hours she’d spent with her friends and family. Sorrow and pain shot through her, but they carried a greater emotion with them--the love she had felt during those final moments. The crystal erupted into a blaze of piercing, white light, illuminating the entire area like lightening. The doons inside the flaming barrier screamed as their forms tore apart like fabric and then disappeared. Echo and Shimmer landed quickly as the crystal lost its light. Echo released the straps from her legs and dismounted. She found the woman who’d been victim to the doon’s handshake curled on the ground and shaking. Echo, along with several others, rushed to her side. Two young men helped the woman to sit as Echo grasped her icy, trembling hand.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking into the woman’s terrified eyes. The woman stared back at her for the longest time. Then the fear seemed to subside and the woman suddenly lunged forward and locked Echo in a bear hug.
“Thank you! Thank you!” she sobbed against Echo’s shoulder. Echo didn’t know what to do or say. She hugged the woman, and then gently pulled away.
“Can you continue?” she asked. The poor thing had gone through such a horror, she was ready to fly her back to Thildin.
A flame grew in the woman’s eyes. “I will continue. I will not allow those demons to touch another living soul, even if it takes my life to stop them!”
The surrounding crowd looked at her with wonder as they helped the trembling woman to stand. Echo nodded to her, handed her an orb, and instructed her how to use it. Then, she and Shimmer took their leave. From the sky, they made certain the wall of fire was still burning. Villagers, elves, and fae were keeping the doons at bay for now. And, Echo doubted any hags could do much damage--no one was sleeping.
No sooner had that thought crossed her mind than a fog slithered from the river toward the village. Hags carried themselves on the mist, but this fog moved differently than with those shadow dwellers. Was it Cage and the water wraiths? Echo’s stomach leapt with excitement. She brought Shimmer back down, hoping to catch a glimpse of her friend. But her smile fell from her face as the fog kept its form and moved purposefully toward the torches. One by one, the living vapors wrapped themselves around each torch, dowsing their flames. It definitely wasn’t friendly fog. But it couldn’t be hags. Hags were afraid of light.
The torches burst back into flame as the woman used the orb that Echo had given her. The fog pressed in again. Echo drove Shimmer closer still, the orbs and crystal clutched in her hands. As they approached, the fog took ghostly forms. They were water wraiths, but not the ones Echo had hoped to see. None of them wore Jiggers’ glowing necklaces. The wraiths kept their distance, but they were able to command the mist, making it stretch from their hands and coil around the torches. Some were extending their misty ribbons to the people, pulling them into their spells.
Several elves came to the aid of the humans that were being lured toward the water. Using their magic, the elves sent flames from the remaining torches across the ghostly arms of mist, severing the connections. Echo threw an orb in the center of the pack of wraiths. Her insides cringed at their anguished cries as several of them vanished in pillars of steam. Their deaths weren’t bloody, but they were just as painful and horrifying.
More wraiths emerged from the river and Echo was about to turn Shimmer toward them. She held another orb ready. She had to stop them before they could reach the villagers with their misty extensions.
The sound of flapping wings caught Echo’s attention. She twisted in her saddle and looked behind her. Brecker and Midnight Sun bore down on them from the blackness. Her brother’s face was demonic looking with the red glow from the fires reflecting off his pale skin. Echo swallowed her scream as she and Shimmer darted away in time to avoid Brecker’s blade. The villagers and elves would have to fend for themselves for now.
Shimmer rose higher into the sky, desperate to put distance between her and Midnight Sun. Echo shared her horse’s desire. Brecker was terrifying! Shimmer reached a peak, bucked in the air, and began her arrow dive. Echo hugged her horse with her body, squinting to keep the wind from drying her eyes. Shimmer suddenly pulled out of her dive and rose high into the air again. Midnight Sun and Brecker appeared out of the darkness and slammed into Echo and Shimmer. The release strap caught on Brecker’s saddle and Echo’s right leg broke free from the saddle straps. She was flung to Shimmer’s left side as her left leg twisted painfully. Shimmer squealed as her body was thrown off balance by Echo’s weight. The horse flapped her wings furiously, attempting to right herself before she flipped upside down.
Echo strained as she thrust her daggers into their sheath and then grasped frantically at the saddle in attempt to pull herself onto Shimmer’s back. The touch of a leather strap brushed against Echo’s hand and she grasped onto it with desperation. In the darkness and with her frenzied mind a blur, she didn’t realize she’d grabbed the other release strap. Her heart gave one horrified pulse and then stilled for two beats as she fell away from her horse.
Shimmer’s body rose quickly away from Echo. In the darkness, she almost felt as if she were floating. The wind blasting against her body told her otherwise. Shimmer spun in the air and began an arrow-dive, desperately trying to catch Echo before she reached the unrelenting earth. Echo flipped over and watched with horror as the river below, its surface reflecting the dwindling firelight of Silmah’s torches, rose toward her all too rapidly. Shimmer’s frantic thoughts touche
d Echo--Midnight Sun was attacking again. Shimmer couldn’t reach her in time!
This is it! I’m going to die! Echo thought as all hope plummeted with her through the blackened sky.